SmackDown (WWE brand)

SmackDown
Logo for the brand and the WWE SmackDown television program as of October 4, 2019
Product typeProfessional wrestling
Sports entertainment
OwnerWWE
Produced byPaul "Triple H" Levesque
Bruce Prichard
CountryUnited States
IntroducedMarch 25, 2002
(first split)
July 19, 2016
(second split)
DiscontinuedAugust 29, 2011
(first split)
Related brandsRaw
ECW
NXT
205 Live
NXT UK
Other names
SmackDown!
(2002–2008)

SmackDown is a brand of the American professional wrestling promotion WWE that was established on March 25, 2002. Brands are divisions of WWE's roster where wrestlers are assigned to perform on a weekly basis when a brand extension is in effect. Wrestlers assigned to SmackDown primarily appear on the brand's weekly television program, Friday Night SmackDown, also referred to simply as SmackDown. It is one of WWE's two main brands, along with Raw, collectively referred to as WWE's main roster. The brand extension was discontinued between August 2011 and July 2016.

In addition to the television program, SmackDown wrestlers also perform on the branded and co-branded pay-per-view and livestreaming events. During the first brand split (2002–2011), SmackDown wrestlers also competed on an exclusive supplementary show, Velocity, and on ECW under a talent exchange program with the former ECW brand, while during the second brand split (2016–present), the brand's wrestlers have appeared in the interbrand Mixed Match Challenge, Worlds Collide, and annual Tribute to the Troops events.